My quintessential dining experience would have to be a road-trip stop at a --- well, I hesitate to call it a "greasy spoon," because nothing was greasy but the breakfast (which was perfectly, desirably so).

My dad ordered coffee, I ordered tea... which, of course, got me a towering glass of sweetened iced tea, not the mug of hot tea I expected.

Also, I was a callow young thing who had not yet learned to love grits. I pleasantly requested my breakfast plate w/o grits; why waste food? Our server knitted her brow and repeated "No grits? Sugar, they aren't extra. They come with the meal." I smilingly explained that of course I expected to pay full price, but could the kitchen please leave the grits off? She agreed uncertainly.

My meal arrived with a steaming pile of grits spilling over against the egg and bacon and biscuit. I ate every scrap of breakfast except the grits. We paid and left a hefty tip... and when our server swooped by to collect our plates, she glanced at the lonely pile of grits sitting there and asked without a hint of sarcasm "Sugar, was there something wrong with your grits?"

I was mighty disappointed in the very promising-sounding fancypants burger from a local restaurant when it arrived on slices of buttered bread. Though the meat was delicious (at first), the juices dissolved the bread into a smeary, greasy paste on the outside of the patty. It was impossible to hold in hand, and after a few bites, I couldn't taste anything but butter. It was surprisingly unpleasant.

It was several years ago --- I know, because my father was still alive --- before the welcome resurgence of locally raised, house-ground meat was as widespread as it is today. I visited my parents for a weekend and, on my way, picked up some lovely local meat that was ground for me while I waited. I also had a batch of homemade sesame-seed buns.

My folks, who like a plain ol' burger from grocery-ground meat (and I don't turn my nose up at one myself, if it's cooked to a safe temp) scoffed not unpleasantly at these frills. Then I handed them each a burger off the grill, with a side of grilled vegetables and a glass of wine.

And those were the best burgers I've ever had.

Snow cones!

natashac's comment reminds me that I have some saffron lurking in my cupboards that I should use (and replace) before it ages too much. Because it's tucked away, protected from heat and light, I never think to cook with it. Time to bring it out and let it sing!

It's a little boring, but: hey, taco truck, obviously. And it would be parked in the driveway next door, so I could just lean out my window to place an order.

Oof, that's a hard choice. But Deborah Madison's roasted squash galette with caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and sage in a yeasted olive oil dough is one of my favorite dishes, and a favorite for Thanksgiving or other holiday dinners.

Broccoli in garlic sauce! I live in a small city that has not a single good Chinese restaurant, so I finally had to learn to make a handful of passable dishes myself, but it is not the same. Sigh.

The first time I made an anything-other-than-pineapple upside-down cake, it was a revelation. I used cherries in butter and brown sugar, topped with a simple one-layer cake batter spiked with almond liqueur and with half a cup of ground toasted almonds swapped in for some of the flour. The finished cake was suave and subtle and utterly delicious.

I asked The Fella, who made the tortured face of someone asked to decide between favorites. We decided it's probably my (vegetarian) mushroom shepherd's pie, packed with root vegetables and savory gravy and topped with scallion-flecked mashed potatoes. (Once in a while, I serve it as pot pie with a pastry crust in place of the potatoes: also incredibly delicious.)

We also decided I should make it tomorrow. So thanks for the nudge!

Fried green tomatoes.

Oooh, I too loved the flat crackers with a little tub of cheese-food product and a red plastic spreader. Or the cheezy crackers w/ peanut butter spread between!